Razorlight headline Voice Of Slavery gig

Razorlight and Supergrass played storming sets last night (March 25) in London for charity gig The Voice Of Slavery.

The evening marked the bicentenary of the British Parliamentary act to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807, and sought to highlight the fact that there are still an estimated 12 million enslaved people in the year 2007.

Proceeds raised from the evening will be used to support the lobbying work of Anti-Slavery International.

Headliners Razorlight graced the stage at Kentish Town Forum just after 11.30pm to excitable crowds, enticing them with a string of hits which included opener ’In The Morning’, ’Before I Fall To Pieces’, ‘Golden Touch’ and the chart-topper ’America’.

Before them, Supergrass played a set which included new song ‘Bad Blood’, as well as string of classics including ’Strange Ones’, ’Richard III’, ‘St Petersburg’ and set closer ‘Caught By The Fuzz’.

Speaking of the event before the festivities back stage, Supergrass front man Gaz Coombes explained the reasons behind the evening saying: “I think it’s a combination of lots of people getting together. It’s all we can do as musicians”.

Despite an illogical line-up order and sets plagued by sound hitches and apparent confusion over the event’s organisation, bands and artists such as Ed Harcourt and The Vitamins battled through the early evening slots, as a less-than-tasteful compere in the form of Daniel Bedingfield beat-boxed his way through the entire event to the perplexed crowds below.

Fellow warm-up artists included Drew McConnell from Babyshambles, who ran through a three-song set on his acoustic guitar that included ’Kilamangiro’, and self-styled “citizen of the universe” Finlay Quaye, clad in sunglasses, belting out his own interpretation of the classic ’House Of The Rising Sun’.

Actress Samantha Morton and actor Rhys Ifans supplied their expertise to the evening’s proceedings as guest presenters, the latter trying his hand as a stand-up comedian when the sound issues reared up throughout the gig.

Ifans said of the event: “Obviously it raises awareness. I wasn’t aware before I got involved. Initially I thought it was to celebrate the end of slavery and then I found out that 20 million people in the world are still enslaved. Hopefully an event like this will remind people – it certainly enlightened me.”